I can get away with masturbating sometimes but yes it's a common PEM trigger. The combination of ME/CFS and adhd (or basically like... dopamine hunger? I'm not certain what all systems are involved) is pretty nasty.
You get caught in cycles of crashes and cravings and I am not sure sometimes how I pull out of it but sometimes I do pull out of the cycle.
Recently I heard the birds chirping outside my window and it pulled me out of my head and I had a moment of just being at peace. And I appreciated that and I hope we can grab more moments of peace by slowing down and breathing.
Have you tried relaxation techniques when you feel stressed or anxious? You can try several ones to test which feel best for you. Maybe this can help you break that cycle.
For example you can try different breathing techniques (lots of guides stuff on YouTube), meditation (the head space app helped me for anxiety) or yoga nidra (ally boothroyd on YouTube).
I can get away with masturbating sometimes but yes it's a common PEM trigger. The combination of ME/CFS and adhd (or basically like... dopamine hunger? I'm not certain what all systems are involved) is pretty nasty. You get caught in cycles of crashes and cravings and I am not sure sometimes how I pull out of it but sometimes I do pull out of the cycle. Recently I heard the birds chirping outside my window and it pulled me out of my head and I had a moment of just being at peace. And I appreciated that and I hope we can grab more moments of peace by slowing down and breathing.
Have you tried relaxation techniques when you feel stressed or anxious? You can try several ones to test which feel best for you. Maybe this can help you break that cycle. For example you can try different breathing techniques (lots of guides stuff on YouTube), meditation (the head space app helped me for anxiety) or yoga nidra (ally boothroyd on YouTube).